U.S. patent application number 15/477462 was filed with the patent office on 2018-10-04 for systems and methods for monitoring attendance of persons via payment networks.
The applicant listed for this patent is MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED. Invention is credited to Cesar Espinoza, Oscar A. Jimenez, Michelle Rubio, Matias Sevi.
Application Number | 20180285873 15/477462 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 61802380 |
Filed Date | 2018-10-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180285873 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Espinoza; Cesar ; et
al. |
October 4, 2018 |
Systems and Methods for Monitoring Attendance of Persons Via
Payment Networks
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for monitoring attendance of
people at organizer events, via payment networks, based on
authorization messages generated in connection with such
attendance. One exemplary method includes identifying an
authorization message as an attendance message based on a program
code included in the authorization message, where the authorization
message further includes an organizer identifier indicative of an
organizer associated with a location of the attendance. The method
also includes identifying a person associated with the attendance
based on the authorization message, and appending an attendance
entry to an attendance profile associated with the person, based on
the authorization message, whereby an incentive associated with the
attendance of the person at the organizer is able to be
allocated.
Inventors: |
Espinoza; Cesar; (Miami,
FL) ; Rubio; Michelle; (Miami, FL) ; Sevi;
Matias; (Aventura, FL) ; Jimenez; Oscar A.;
(Miami, FL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED |
Purchase |
NY |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
61802380 |
Appl. No.: |
15/477462 |
Filed: |
April 3, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/405 20130101;
G06Q 30/0215 20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 20/40 20060101
G06Q020/40; G06Q 30/02 20060101 G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for monitoring attendance of a
person, via a payment network, based on one or more authorization
messages generated in connection with such attendance, the method
comprising: identifying, by a computing device, an authorization
message as an attendance message based on a program code included
in the authorization message, the authorization message further
including an organizer identifier indicative of an organizer
associated with a location of the attendance; identifying, by the
computing device, a person associated with the attendance based on
the authorization message; and appending, by the computing device,
an attendance entry to an attendance profile associated with the
person, based on the authorization message, whereby an incentive
associated with the attendance of the person at the organizer is
able to be allocated.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the
authorization message includes an account number, the account
number including the program code, an identifier associated with
the person, and a check digit; and wherein identifying the person
includes identifying the person based on the identifier associated
with the person.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the
authorization message further includes a time and a date associated
with the attendance of the person at the organizer; and wherein
appending the attendance entry to the attendance profile includes
compiling the attendance entry based on the time and/or the date
included in the authorization message.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the
incentive associated with the attendance of the person at the
organizer includes a monetary incentive; and further comprising
allocating funds consistent with the monetary incentive to a
payment account associated with the person or an individual
responsible for the person, based on the attendance profile.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein allocating
funds to the payment account associated with the person or an
individual responsible for the person is based on the attendance
profile satisfying a defined threshold.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the
authorization message further includes performance content related
to the person; and further comprising appending, by the computing
device, the performance content to the attendance profile
associated with the person.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
detecting an electronic tag upon attendance of the person at the
organizer; compiling the authorization message, the authorization
message including at least the program code, the organizer
identifier indicative of the organizer, and an identifier
associated with the person; and transmitting the authorization
message to a payment network.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the
authorization message further includes a time and a date associated
with the access of the person at the organizer; and wherein
appending the attendance entry to the attendance profile includes
compiling the attendance entry based on the time and/or the date
included in the authorization message.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising
allocating funds to a payment account associated with the person or
an individual responsible for the person, based on the attendance
profile.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the
organizer includes a school; the person includes a student
attending the school; and the responsible person includes a
guardian of the student.
11. A system for monitoring attendance of a person at an organizer,
via a payment network, based on one or more authorization messages
generated in connection with such attendance, the system
comprising: a memory comprising an identifier for each of multiple
people enrolled to receive incentives from an incentive provider in
connection with attendance at an organizer, and an attendance
profile for each of the multiple people indicative of attendance by
the person at the organizer; and a processor in communication with
the memory, the processor configured to: access an authorization
message generated by the organizer; identify the authorization
message as an attendance message based on a program code included
in the authorization message and associated with the incentive
provider, the authorization message further including a personal
identifier indicative of a person; identify the person, in the
memory, as one of the multiple people enrolled to receive
incentives from the incentive provider in connection with
attendance at the organizer, based on the personal identifier; and
append an attendance entry to the attendance profile for the person
in the memory, based on the attendance of the person at the
organizer indicated in the authorization message, whereby an
incentive provided by the incentive provider and associated with
the attendance of the person at the organizer is able to be
allocated to the person.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the authorization message
includes an account number, the account number including the
program code, the personal identifier associated with the person,
and a check digit.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further
configured to: compile a report for the person based on the
attendance profile for the person; and transmit the report to one
or both of the incentive provider and the organizer.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the authorization message
further includes performance content related to the person in
connection with the organizer; and wherein the processor is further
configured to append the performance content to the attendance
profile for the person.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the report includes attendance
data for the person at the organizer and the performance content
related to the person.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further
configured, after appending the attendance entry to the attendance
profile for the person, to compare the attendance profile to a
defined threshold; and when the attendance profile satisfies the
defined threshold, cause the incentive associated with the
attendance of the person at the organizer to be allocated to the
person.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the authorization message
further includes an organizer identifier indicative of the
organizer; and wherein the processor is further configured to
retrieve the defined threshold from the memory based on the
organizer identifier included in the authorization request.
18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage media including
computer-executable instructions for monitoring attendance of a
person at an organizer, via a payment network, based on one or more
authorization messages generated in connection with such
attendance, which, when executed by a processor, cause the
processor to: access, via a payment network, an authorization
message generated by an organizer; identify the authorization
message as an attendance message based on a program code included
in the authorization message and associated with an incentive
provider configured to provide incentives to multiple people based
on attendance at a location associated with the organizer, the
authorization message further including a personal identifier
indicative of a person and an organizer identifier indicative of
the organizer; identify the person, based on the personal
identifier in the authorization message, as one of the multiple
people for receiving an incentive from the incentive provider in
connection with attendance of the person at the organizer; compile
an attendance report for the person based on the attendance of the
person at the organizer; and transmit the attendance report to one
or both of the incentive provider and the organizer.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 18,
wherein the authorization message further includes performance
content related to the person in connection with the organizer; and
wherein the report includes attendance data for the person at the
location associated with the organizer and the performance content
related to the person.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 18,
wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the
processor, further cause the processor to cause the incentive
associated with the attendance of the person at the location of the
organizer, as provided by the incentive provider, to be allocated
to the person.
Description
FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and
methods for monitoring attendance of persons via payment networks,
and in particular, to systems and methods for generating and
transmitting authorization messages for such attendance to payment
networks, and further for tracking the attendance of the persons
based on the authorization messages, via the payment networks, by
which incentives may then be provided and/or other actions
taken.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This section provides background information related to the
present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
[0003] Consumers are known to use payment accounts to fund
transactions for different types of products (e.g., goods and
services, etc.), from different merchants. When performed, such
payment account transactions rely on payment networks to facilitate
interactions between acquirers and issuers to approve the
transactions, and then settle and clear the approved transactions.
The interactions often rely on various messages (e.g.,
authorization messages, etc.) provided to the payment networks,
where such messages often comply with certain standards such as,
for example, the ISO 8583 message format for financial
transactions.
[0004] Separately, students are known to attend schools from a
young age and into their late teens or early twenties, or even
later/longer. The education gained by the students is often
associated with the students' attendance at such schools, where
better attendance generally results in the students gaining more
education. Attendance is often tracked, and enforced, by the
schools, consistent with requirements under which the schools
operate (e.g., as defined by law or regulation, etc.). Failure of
the students to abide by, and fulfill, the attendance requirements
of the schools may result in discipline of the students (and,
potentially, their parents). Additionally, schools are also known
to be associated with disbursement programs, through which students
associated with the schools, and/or parents of the students, are
able to receive monetary incentives for such attendance. It should
further be appreciated that attendance, and incentivizing such
attendance, are not issues limited to schools/students, but are
also related to other aspects/relationships, such as for example,
employer/employee work environments, etc.
DRAWINGS
[0005] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes
only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations,
and are not intended to limit the scope of the present
disclosure.
[0006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system of the
present disclosure suitable for use in monitoring attendance of
persons via payment networks;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device that may be
used in the exemplary system of FIG. 1; and
[0008] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method, which may
be implemented in connection with the system of FIG. 1, for use in
monitoring attendance of a person at an event, such as, for
example, a school, etc., via a payment network.
[0009] Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding
parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with
reference to the accompanying drawings. The description and
specific examples included herein are intended for purposes of
illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the
present disclosure.
[0011] Many persons are required, or encouraged, to attend one or
more events, for purposes related to work, education, service, etc.
The persons may sign into the events, or may be subject to
attendance verification, for example, through roll calls or time
cards, etc. Uniquely, the systems and methods herein provide an
attendance solution for such events, which utilizes aspects of
payment networks, so that payment network messaging may be used to
gather and store attendance data for such events for use in
monitoring attendance. In particular, for example, a person (e.g.,
a student, a teacher, an employee, a season pass holder, etc.) may
enter an event (e.g., a school, work, a resort, etc.) through a tag
enabled entrance, whereby an identifier associated with the person
is captured and compiled into a payment network message (e.g., an
authorization request, etc.). In turn, the event transmits the
message to an attendance engine, which upon receipt of the message,
records, as appropriate, the person's attendance at the event. In
addition, the attendance engine may provide reporting of attendance
at the event, per person (or, where the attendance engine is used
for multiple events, per event), to an administrator or another
associated with the event, whereby positive or negative remedial
action may be imposed based on the attendance. For example, an
administrator may award one or more incentives, potentially,
through the payment network, to the person or someone associated
with the person (e.g., a guardian, etc.) when the person's
attendance at the event satisfies one or more defined thresholds.
In this manner, attendance at the event is not only positively
encouraged but is also identified to the particular person, thereby
potentially improving attendance at the event and minimizing
fraudulent receipt of resulting incentives.
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 in which the one
or more aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented.
Although the system 100 is presented in one arrangement, other
embodiments may include the parts of the system 100 (or other
parts) arranged otherwise depending on, for example, implementation
of attendance incentives in the system 100, relationships between
different parts of the system 100 (e.g., in connection with
generating, transmitting, receiving, etc. payment network messages;
etc.), etc.
[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the illustrated system 100 generally
includes an organizer 102, an acquirer 104, a payment network 106,
an issuer 108, and an incentive provider 110, each coupled to (and
in communication with) network 112. The network 112 may include,
without limitation, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network
(WAN) (e.g., the Internet, etc.), a mobile network, a virtual
network, and/or another suitable public and/or private network
capable of supporting communication among two or more of the parts
illustrated in FIG. 1, or any combination thereof. For example,
network 112 may include multiple different networks, such as a
private payment transaction network made accessible by the payment
network 106 to the acquirer 104 and the issuer 108 (and typically
used to process payment account transactions between consumers and
merchants) and, separately, the public Internet, which may provide
interconnection between the organizer 102, the payment network 106,
and the incentive provider 110, etc.
[0014] In the exemplary embodiment, the organizer 102 defines
and/or is involved with the attendance of persons, such as, for
example, a person 114, at a location or locations of an event. It
should be appreciated that the organizer 102 may include any
suitable entity that requires or desires or invites attendance of
the person 114 at a location/event. And, as such, the person 114
may include any person that is desired or obligated or invited,
etc. to attend the location/event. Thus, as used herein, the
organizer 102 and the person 114 may include any suitable
organizer-person arrangement, where the person 114 is desired or
obligated or invited, in one form or another, to attend locations,
events, hours, shifts, programs, appointments, etc., set by or
desired by the organizer 102. In connection therewith, the
organizer 102 may collect various data from the person 114 relating
to attendance (e.g., days present at the organizer, days absent
from the organizer, etc.) and/or performance (e.g., performance
reviews, grades, services used at a resort, hours of attendance at
a theme park, hours worked, rides boarded at a theme park,
particular terrain skied at a ski resort, etc.) at the organizer
102 and store such data in a data structure associated with the
organizer 102. In various embodiments, the person 114 may be
prompted to agree to legal terms associated with their relationship
with the organizer 102 whereby the person 114 may voluntarily
agree, for example, to allow the organizer 102 to collect such data
and use the data, subsequently, in general and for one or more of
the different purposes described herein.
[0015] As an example, the organizer 102 may include a school, and
the person 114 may then include a student attending the school
and/or a teacher employed at the school (such that the person 114
may be either the student or the teacher). In this example, the
school may be provided to offer education to the student, which is
provided by the teacher. Further in this example, the school often
defines, or at least attempts to impose, attendance policies for
the student and the teacher at the school (e.g., the student may be
required to attend at least 180 days of school in a school year
(subject to excused absences), or a different number of days,
depending on, for example, a grade level, a location of the school;
the teacher (as an employee of the school) may be required to
attend at least 200 work days per calendar year, subject to
vacation, holidays, and/or absences, etc.).
[0016] As another example, the organizer 102 may include an
employer, and the person 114 may then include an employee that
works for the employer (e.g., an employee at a factory, an employee
at a fast food restaurant, a salesperson at a retail merchant,
etc.). In this example, the employee may be required to work a
certain amount of time for the employer (e.g., from 9 AM to 5 PM,
Monday to Friday, etc.) or satisfy certain performance goals (e.g.,
achieve certain sales quotas, etc.), in exchange for compensation.
In so doing, the employee may punch-in (e.g., punch a time clock,
scan an ID, sign in or login to an account, etc.) when arriving at
work, thereby indicating his/her presence at work, and punch-out
when leaving work, thereby indicating his/her departure. Or, the
employee may scan an ID to record certain sales.
[0017] As still another example, the organizer 102 may include a
theme park or other resort (e.g., a ski resort, etc.), and the
person 114 may include a patron of the theme park or other resort.
In this example, the theme park or other resort may issue (e.g.,
sell, award, etc.) a pass to the patron that enables the patron to
attend the theme park or other resort and use various facilities,
services, etc. provided thereby (e.g., access a ride, board a chair
lift, etc.). In turn, the theme park or other resort may monitor
and/or track attendance of the patron and provide rewards for such
attendance.
[0018] With that said, it should again be appreciated that the
organizer 102 and/or the person 114 are not limited to the
particular examples provided herein, but may include any
organizer-person relationship or arrangement within the scope of
the present disclosure that, for example, tracks attendance,
absenteeism, performance, job completion, service usage, etc.,
linked to a physical location or place. As such, and as stated
above, the organizer 102 may include any suitable entity that
requires or desires or invites attendance of the person 114 at a
location/event. And, the person 114 may include any person that is
desired or obligated or invited, etc. to attend the
location/event.
[0019] Referring again to FIG. 1, the incentive provider 110 is
associated with the organizer 102, in connection with attendance of
the person 114 at an event of the organizer 102 (e.g., in
connection with providing incentives to the person 114 or others
for attendance at the organizer 102, etc.). For example, the
incentive provider 110 may include one or more government agencies,
other public or private entities, etc., that has an interest or
obligation in the attendance of the person 114 at the organizer
102. Further, while the incentive provider 110 is illustrated as
separate from the organizer 102 in the system 100, it should be
appreciated that the organizer 102 and the incentive provider 110
may be integrated into a single entity in other system embodiments
herein (as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 1).
[0020] In certain instances, the incentive provider 110 is
configured to provide assistance to the organizer 102, for example,
in setting policies, rules, curriculum, etc. In connection
therewith, when the policies, rules, curriculum, etc. are
implemented, followed, satisfied, etc., the incentive provider 110
may be configured to then provide an incentive (e.g., a monetary
incentive, a product incentive, a use incentive (e.g., free or
discounted admission to a resort, etc.), another incentive (e.g.,
an extra vacation day for an employee, etc.), etc.) to one or more
of the organizer 102, the person 114 (when the person 114 satisfies
one or more of the implemented policies, rules, curriculum
requirements, etc.), and a responsible individual 116 associated
with the person 114 (e.g., a parent, guardian, relative, etc.) in
connection with one or more incentive programs (e.g., associated
with a particular incentive program code, etc.). When the
incentives include monetary incentives, the incentive provider 110
may be configured to further provide the incentives to accounts
(e.g., payment accounts (e.g., prepaid accounts, etc.), etc.)
associated with the organizer 102, the person 114, and/or the
responsible individual 116 receiving the incentive (where, in the
illustrated embodiment, the accounts are issued by the issuer 108).
In one or more embodiments, the accounts may be limited, by the
incentive provider 110 and/or the issuer 108, to a merchant (or
merchants) of a particular type or of particular types (e.g., a
merchant associated with food, a merchant associated with school
supplies, a public transportation merchant, a merchant associated
with an education event, a merchant associated with particular
cultural events, etc.). However, it should again be appreciated
that other incentives may be provided in various forms by the
incentive provider 110, such that the incentives are not limited to
monetary payments to the person or the responsible individual 116,
are not limited to monetary payments to accounts, etc.
[0021] With reference to the above example where the organizer 102
includes the school and the person 114 includes the student at the
school, the incentive provider 110 may be configured to define the
attendance policies for students at the school and then,
potentially, provide incentives to the student (or those associated
with the student) based on, for example, whether the attendance
policy is followed and whether a threshold associated with the
attendance policy is satisfied (e.g., attendance for students at
the school is at least 90%, etc.; attendance for the particular
student is at least 95%, etc.). The incentives may include, for
example, monetary payments to the student and/or a responsible
individual associated with the student, such as a parent, legal
guardian, caregiver, or another person responsible for and/or
associated with the student. In particular in this example, when
the student satisfies the attendance policy, the incentive provider
110 is configured to provide a monetary payment (broadly, an
incentive) to a payment account associated with the responsible
individual of the student (issued to the individual by the issuer
108). The monetary payment may be representative of one or more of
each day of attendance by the student at the school, each perfect
week of attendance, attendance for a defined interval satisfying a
threshold (e.g., for a week interval or other defined term, etc.),
etc.
[0022] With reference again to FIG. 1, the person 114 is associated
with a tag 118, which may include a variety of devices suitable to
interact with the organizer 102 and to identify the person 114. For
example, the tag 118 may include a device configured to
emit/transmit data relating to the person 114, as described herein
(including, in some embodiments, a smartphone or tablet, etc.). The
tag 118 may alternatively include a device having data included
thereon relating to the person 114, which can be read or otherwise
received and understood by another computing device.
[0023] In particular, for example, in the system 100 the tag 118
(regardless of form) is configured to interact with the organizer
102 at one or more entrances at the organizer 102 (or at other
locations of the organizer 102 (e.g., locations not specifically
associated with entrances such as offices, classrooms, chair lifts,
rides, etc.), to provide an indicator or identifier associated with
the person 114 upon the person entering and/or exiting the
organizer 102 through the one or more entrances. In so doing, the
identifier associated with the person 114 is delivered, read and/or
understood by the organizer 102. With that said, the tag 118 may
include, without limitation, a radio frequency identifier (RFID)
tag, a Bluetooth.RTM. tag, a quick response (QR) code, a barcode,
network-communication capability (e.g., such as where the tag 118
includes a smartphone, etc.), or other suitable tag, code, or
indicia for providing the identifier associated with the person
114. In some embodiments, the tag 118 may also (or alternatively)
include an EMV chip (e.g., with the tag 118 being in the form of an
identification card, a wrist band, etc.), which relies on the EMV
standard developed by Europay.RTM., MasterCard.RTM. and Visa.RTM.
for payment devices. The EMV technical standard, which can be found
at http://www.emvco.com, and involves the generation and inclusion
of dynamic digital data in each transaction.
[0024] The tag 118 may further include information about the person
114 (e.g., the identifier associated with the person 114, etc.).
The tag 118 may further permit the person 114 to use the tag 118 to
perform purchase transactions (e.g., involving incentives provided
by the incentive provider 110, or independent of any incentives
provided by the incentive provider 110, etc.), etc. Further, in
some embodiments, the tag 118 may include, or may be representative
of herein (such that the tag 118 may or may not be a physical
device), biometrics associated with the person 114, which can be
scanned upon attendance of the person 114 at the organizer 102 and
then associated with an identifier for the person 114. Or, in these
embodiments, the biometrics may be considered the identifier of the
person 114 (such that the tag 118 could potentially be omitted). In
the above example relating to the school, the student may include a
student identification tag with a RFID, and the school may be
configured to read and/or query the tag 118 each time the student
enters and/or leaves the school via suitable RFID
scanners/receivers.
[0025] While only one organizer 102, one acquirer 104, one payment
network 106, one issuer 108, and one incentive provider 110 are
illustrated in FIG. 1, it should be appreciated that any number or
type of these entities (and their associated components) may be
included in the system 100, or as a part of other system
embodiments, consistent with the present disclosure. Likewise, it
should be appreciated that the system 100 and other system
embodiments will generally include multiple persons 114,
responsible individuals 116, and/or tags 118, whereby the
attendance of the multiple persons 114 and/or the provision of
incentives thereto is subject to the systems and methods herein.
Further, in some embodiments, the system 100 may include one or
more persons 114, but no responsible individuals 116 (e.g., in
embodiments where the person 114 is responsible for
himself/herself, etc.).
[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computing device 200 that
can be used in the system 100. The computing device 200 may
include, for example, one or more servers, workstations, personal
computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, PDAs, etc. In addition,
the computing device 200 may include a single computing device, or
it may include multiple computing devices located in close
proximity or distributed over a geographic region, so long as the
computing devices are specifically configured to function as
described herein. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, each of
the organizer 102, the acquirer 104, the payment network 106, the
issuer 108, and the incentive provider 110 are illustrated as
including, or being implemented in, computing device 200, coupled
to (and in communication with) the network 112. In addition, in
various embodiments, the tag 118 may be considered, or may be
implemented in, a computing device consistent with computing device
200. However, the system 100 should not be considered to be limited
to the computing device 200, as described below, as different
computing devices and/or arrangements of computing devices may be
used. In addition, different components and/or arrangements of
components may be used in other computing devices.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 2, the exemplary computing device 200
includes a processor 202 and a memory 204 coupled to (and in
communication with) the processor 202. The processor 202 may
include one or more processing units (e.g., in a multi-core
configuration, etc.). For example, the processor 202 may include,
without limitation, a central processing unit (CPU), a
microcontroller, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC)
processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a
programmable logic device (PLD), a gate array, and/or any other
circuit or processor capable of the functions described herein.
[0028] The memory 204, as described herein, is one or more devices
that permit data, instructions, etc. to be stored therein and
retrieved therefrom. The memory 204 may include one or more
computer-readable storage media, such as, without limitation,
dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory
(SRAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only
memory (EPROM), solid state devices, flash drives, CD-ROMs, thumb
drives, floppy disks, tapes, hard disks, and/or any other type of
volatile or nonvolatile physical or tangible computer-readable
media. The memory 204 may be configured to store, without
limitation, transaction data, personal identifiers for persons
herein, program codes, dates/times, country codes, organizer
identifiers, attendance entries and/or profiles, account numbers
(e.g., bank identification numbers (BINs), primary account numbers
(PANs), etc.), performance content for persons in the system 100,
and/or other types of data (and/or data structures) suitable for
use as described herein. Furthermore, in various embodiments,
computer-executable instructions may be stored in the memory 204
for execution by the processor 202 to cause the processor 202 to
perform one or more of the functions described herein, such that
the memory 204 is a physical, tangible, and non-transitory computer
readable storage media. Such instructions often improve the
efficiencies and/or performance of the processor 202 and/or other
computer system components configured to perform one or more of the
various operations herein. It should be appreciated that the memory
204 may include a variety of different memories, each implemented
in one or more of the functions or processes described herein.
[0029] In the exemplary embodiment, the computing device 200 also
includes a presentation unit 206 that is coupled to (and is in
communication with) the processor 202 (however, it should be
appreciated that the computing device 200 could include output
devices other than the presentation unit 206, etc.). The
presentation unit 206 outputs information (e.g., attendance
profiles, performance content, etc.), visually, for example, to a
user of the computing device 200, such as the person 114 in the
system 100, the responsible individual 116 in the system 100, users
associated with one or more of the organizer 102 and the incentive
provider 110, etc. And, various interfaces (e.g., as defined by
network-based applications (e.g., websites, etc.), etc.) may be
displayed at computing device 200, and in particular at
presentation unit 206, to display such information. The
presentation unit 206 may include, without limitation, a liquid
crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an
organic LED (OLED) display, an "electronic ink" display, speakers,
etc. In some embodiments, presentation unit 206 includes multiple
devices.
[0030] In addition, the computing device 200 includes an input
device 208 that receives inputs from the user (i.e., user inputs)
such as, for example, registration inputs and/or performance
content for the person 114, or other inputs such as personal
identifiers, etc. received/scanned from tags (e.g., from tag 118,
etc.), etc. The input device 208 may include a single input device
or multiple input devices. The input device 208 is coupled to (and
is in communication with) the processor 202 and may include, for
example, one or more of a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse, a
stylus, a RFID reader, a touch sensitive panel (e.g., a touch pad
or a touch screen, etc.), another computing device, and/or an audio
input device. In addition, in various exemplary embodiments, a
touch screen, such as that included in a tablet, a smartphone, or
similar device, behaves as both a presentation unit and an input
device.
[0031] Further, the illustrated computing device 200 also includes
a network interface 210 coupled to (and in communication with) the
processor 202 and the memory 204. The network interface 210 may
include, without limitation, a wired network adapter, a wireless
network adapter (e.g., a near field communication (NFC) adapter, a
Bluetooth adapter, etc.), an RFID reader, a mobile network adapter,
or other device capable of communicating to one or more different
networks, including the network 112.
[0032] Referring again to FIG. 1, the system 100 includes an
attendance engine 120, which is specifically configured, by
computer executable instructions, to perform one or more of the
operations described herein. In the illustrated embodiment, the
attendance engine 120 is provided as a separate part of the system
100 and is in communication with the payment network 106, for
example. As such, the attendance engine 120 may be considered a
computing device consistent with computing device 200. However, as
indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 1, the attendance engine 120
may alternatively be incorporated, at least partly or entirely,
into the payment network 106. Further, it should be appreciated
that the attendance engine 120 may be associated with, or
incorporated with, other parts of the system 100, in other
embodiments, including, for example, the organizer 102, the issuer
108, and/or the incentive provider 110, etc. In addition, while the
system 100 is illustrated as including only one attendance engine
120, it should be appreciated that multiple such attendance engines
may be included in the system 100 in other embodiments, whereby the
multiple attendance engines may operate, as described herein, in
cooperation together, or separately, for the person 114, or for
multiple persons (e.g., for multiple students at a school, for
multiple employees at an employer, for multiple patrons at a
resort, etc.). When such multiple attendance engines 120 are
included, the operations described herein as executed by the
attendance engine 120 may, in some embodiments, be segregated
between the multiple engines, located either together or
distributed over a geographic region.
[0033] The system 100 also includes an attendance data structure
122, which is coupled to (and is in communication with) the
attendance engine 120. The attendance data structure 122 includes
profiles for multiple persons (e.g., attendance profiles, etc.),
including the person 114. The attendance data structure 122 may be
a standalone part of the system 100 as shown in FIG. 1, or it may
be included in memory of the attendance engine 120 (e.g., memory
204, etc.) or elsewhere in the system 100. Likewise, it should be
understood that in certain embodiments the attendance data
structure 122 may be divided into separate structures, stored at
separate parts of the system 100 and accessed from separate
locations.
[0034] Generally in the system 100, the attendance engine 120 is
configured to register the person 114 and/or the responsible
individual 116 to the engine 120. In particular, the attendance
engine 120 is configured to provide one or more interfaces (e.g.,
electronic forms, etc.) to the person 114 and/or the responsible
individual 116, at a computing device 200 associated therewith,
whereby the attendance engine 120 is configured to collect
registration information for the person 114 (e.g., name, address,
school name, school location, guardian name, incentives, incentive
threshold(s), attendance requirement(s), etc.) and generate a
profile for the person 114. The attendance engine 120, through the
one or more interfaces, may be configured to then further collect
performance data for the person 114 (in addition to the attendance
data already collected), either directly from the person 114
(and/or the responsible individual 116) or from the organizer 102
(e.g., from a data structure associated with the organizer 102
comprising such data for the person 114, etc.), and append such
data to the profile for the person 114. In the above example where
the person 114 is the student and the organizer 102 is the school,
the performance data for the student may include, but is not
limited to, grades, performance on standardized tests, grade point
average (GPA), etc. Alternatively, where the person 114 is a
teacher at the school, the performance data may include, but is not
limited to, an attendance rate of the teacher's students,
performance of the teacher's students on standardized tests, and
average GPA of the teacher's students, a timeliness of the teacher
submitting grades/reports, etc. Further, in the above example where
the person 114 is the employee and the organizer 102 is the
employer, the performance data for the employee may include, but is
not limited to, performance reviews, performance results (e.g.,
sales results, etc.), etc.
[0035] After the person 114 (and/or the responsible individual 116)
is registered, the attendance engine 120 is configured to assign a
personal identifier to the person 114. Once assigned, the personal
identifier may be provided to the person 114 within, programmed
into, and/or associated with the tag 118 (or, in some embodiments,
even associated with a biometric of the person 114 such that the
person 114 can be identified as described herein upon scanning of
his/her biometric).
[0036] Separately in the system 100, the person 114 is expected to,
and does, attend the organizer 102, consistent with one or more
attendance policies, requirements, etc. Upon the person 114
entering the organizer 102 (e.g., via an entrance, upon entering
the premises of the organizer 102, etc.), the organizer 102 is
configured to detect the person 114 by the tag 118 (e.g., via a
suitable scanner, etc.) and to generate an authorization message
for the person 114. The organizer 102 is further configured to then
transmit the authorization request to the payment network 106 (such
as, for example, to the network operated by Mastercard
International Incorporated, the assignee of the present
disclosure), via the acquirer 104 (e.g., via a banking institution,
a pseudo acquirer, etc. capable of communicating with the payment
network 106 when the organizer 102 is not able to do so, etc.),
generally along path A in FIG. 1. In various embodiments, the
acquirer 104 may be omitted from the system 100, when the organizer
102 is capable of communicating with, for example, sending
authorization messages to, etc., the payment network 106.
[0037] The authorization message generated by the organizer 102 in
connection with the attendance of the person 114 at the organizer
102 includes various information about the person 114 and the
associated access by the person 114 at the organizer 102. For
example, the authorization message may include, without limitation,
a program code for a program provided by the incentive provider 110
to the person 114, the personal identifier assigned to the person
114, an organizer identifier for the organizer 102 (as provided by
the organizer 102 in generating the message), a name of the
organizer 102, a date/time of the attendance, a country code for
the organizer 102, and performance content for the person 114 at
the organizer 102 (e.g., when available, when desired to be
included (e.g., based on a particular schedule for including such
data, etc.), etc.), etc. In addition in this embodiment, the
authorization message is compliant with the ISO 8583 standard for
financial transaction messages. As such, the message may be easily
transmitted through the private payment transaction network
provided by the payment network 106 (and typically used to process
payment account transactions performed between consumers and
merchants), by entities capable of communicating with the payment
network 106. Uniquely, the above information included in the
authorization message relating to the person 114 and the associated
access by the person 114 at the organizer 102 may be segregated
into one or more different data elements (DE) associated with the
authorization message in place of, or in lieu of, financial data
typically included therein (but, in some embodiments, still in a
similar format thereto). For example, the program code for the
incentive program provided by the incentive provider 110 to the
person 114 and the personal identifier for the person 114 may be
included as a conventional PAN in the authorization message (e.g.,
so that the program code and the personal identifier can be
included in a DE in the authorization message that traditionally
includes the PAN for an account, etc.).
[0038] Once the authorization message for the attendance of the
person 114 at the organizer 102 is provided to the payment network
106, by its association therewith, the attendance engine 120 is
configured to identify the authorization message as an attendance
message. Such identification may be based on the particular program
code included in the authorization message, etc. In particular, for
example, the payment network 106 may reserve a particular BIN
1234-56 as a program code associated with an attendance-reliant
program provided by the incentive provider 110. As such, the
attendance engine 120 is configured to identify the authorization
message, based on the reserved BIN when included in the
authorization message (e.g., in the DE traditionally comprising the
PAN, etc.), as an attendance message for the program. Then, when
the attendance engine 120 identifies the authorization message as
an attendance message, the attendance engine 120 is configured to
identify the person 114 to which the message relates, based on the
personal identifier included in the authorization message (e.g.,
also in the DE traditionally comprising the PAN, etc.). To do so,
the attendance engine 120 is configured to access the attendance
data structure 122 and to search for the personal identifier. Then,
when the person 114 and the profile associated with the person 114
is identified (since the person 114 is registered to the attendance
engine 120, as described above), the attendance engine 120 is
configured to compile an attendance entry for the person 114 (for
the attendance of the person 114 at the organizer 102) and append
the attendance entry to an attendance profile for the person 114,
also in the data structure 122, based on the authorization message.
The attendance entry may simply include an indication of the
particular attendance of the person 114 at the organizer 102, or it
may also include performance data for the person 114 when such data
is included in the authorization message.
[0039] Subsequently, as the person 114 repeatedly attends the
location and/or the event associated with the organizer 102, and as
additional authorization messages for the person 114 are
identified/received by the attendance engine 120, the attendance
profile for the person 114 is updated to indicate the attendance
for the person 114 over an interval, such as, for example, a week,
a month, a calendar year, a school year, a season (e.g., a ski
season, etc.), a quarter (e.g., a school quarter, a fiscal quarter
for an employer, etc.), etc. In connection therewith, the
attendance engine 120 may be configured to generate and transmit a
report to the incentive provider 110, for example, indicating the
person's attendance at the organizer 102. The report may also
include performance data for the person 114, as described above. In
turn, based on the report, the incentive provider 110 may allocate
one or more incentives (e.g., monetary payments to a predefined
account, etc.) for the person 114, when one or more attendance
threshold(s) are satisfied. For example, the incentive provider 110
may initiate a payment account transaction (e.g., a fund transfer
payment transaction via the payment network 106, etc.) to the
account associated with the person 114 (or the responsible
individual 116), whereupon the issuer 108 of the account allocates
funds (consistent with the transaction) to the account.
[0040] Additionally, or alternatively, the attendance engine 120
may be configured to determine when the attendance of the person
114, as indicated by the attendance profile, satisfies one or more
defined thresholds, as retrieved from the data structure 122 (and
specific to the organizer 102, the incentive provider 110, etc.).
Then, when the one or more defined thresholds are satisfied, the
attendance engine 120 may be configured to cause a monetary payment
to be allocated to, or to directly allocate the monetary payment
to, the account associated with the person 114 or the responsible
individual 116. For example, the attendance engine 120 may cause
allocation of the monetary payment by initiating a payment account
transaction (e.g., a fund transfer payment transaction via the
payment network 106, etc.) to the account issued to the person 114
(or the responsible individual 116), whereupon the issuer 108 of
the account allocates funds (consistent with the transaction) to
the account.
[0041] Further, in some embodiments, the attendance engine 120 may
also (or alternatively) transmit the report for the person 114 to
the organizer 102 (indicating attendance of the person 114 at the
organizer 102 and including performance data for the person 114 at
the organizer, etc.). In turn, based on the report, the organizer
102 may provide one or more incentives to the person 114, and/or
the organizer 102 may utilize the data in the report to implement
various business decisions, change work schedules, change staffing
numbers, measure and/or monitor performance of the person 114, etc.
For example, regarding the above where the organizer 102 is an
employer and the person 114 is an employee of the employer, the
employee may be scheduled to work Monday to Friday for the employer
from 6 AM to 2 PM. A report generated by the attendance engine 120
for the employee may then indicate that the employee has a 75%
attendance rate and arrives to work on time only 50% of the time,
but that the employee continuously receives positive performance
reviews. In turn in this example, based on the report, the employer
may modify the work schedule for the employee, for example, so that
the employee instead works from 9 AM to 4 PM (e.g., to provide the
employee additional time in the morning to arrive at work,
etc.).
[0042] In various exemplary embodiments, the person 114 (and/or the
responsible individual 116) involved in receiving incentives from
the incentive provider 110 are also prompted to agree to legal
terms associated with receiving such incentives, for example,
during enrollment in corresponding incentive programs, etc. In so
doing, the person 114 (and/or the responsible individual 116) may
voluntarily agree, for example, to allow the incentive provider
110, or others, to use data collected and/or generated as described
herein for subsequent use in general and for one or more of the
different purposes described herein. Moreover, operations described
herein and related to any monitoring and/or tracking of persons, as
associated with the incentive program or otherwise, are intended to
be carried out in compliance with applicable privacy laws and
regulations, including notice and consent by the person 114, the
responsible individual 116, and/or others.
[0043] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method 300 for use
monitoring attendance of one or more persons at an organizer, via a
payment network (e.g., again, via the network operated by
MasterCard International Incorporated, the assignee of the present
disclosure). The exemplary method 300 is described as implemented
in the attendance engine 120 of the system 100, with further
reference also made to the computing device 200. However, the
methods herein should not be understood to be limited to the system
100 or the computing device 200, as the methods may be implemented
in other systems and/or computing device. Moreover, the systems and
the computing devices herein should not be understood to be limited
to the exemplary method 300.
[0044] For purposes of illustration, the method 300 is described
with reference to the person 114 being a student and the organizer
102 being a school. However, it should again be appreciated that
the methods (and systems) herein are not limited to students and/or
schools, as they are more generally applicable to various persons
who may be subject to one or more attendance requirement(s), as
imposed, indicated, desired, or otherwise associated with
organizers of various types.
[0045] In the following description, the student, as described
above, is registered with the attendance engine 120 and is assigned
student identifier number 654321. In addition, the student is
associated with tag 118 (e.g., which may include a bracelet, a
necklace, a keychain, a smartphone, etc.) programmed and/or
configured with the student identifier. Further, the incentive
provider 110 provides an attendance-reliant social program to which
the student is enrolled (such that the incentive provider 110
provides certain incentives to the student when various attendance
thresholds by the student at the school are satisfied). And the
program code associated with the attendance-reliant social program
provided by the incentive provider 110 is 1234-56.
[0046] In the illustrated method 300, the student enters the
school, at 302, by passing over/through a boundary associated with
the school (e.g., passing through an entrance, entering a parking
lot, crossing a property line, etc.). When entering the school, the
tag 118 emits and/or transmits (e.g., via RFID, etc.) the student
identifier associated with the student. And, upon such entry of the
student to the school (with the tag 118), the school detects, at
304, the student identifier from the tag 118 (e.g., via computing
device 200 (e.g., via the input device 208 and/or network interface
210, etc.), etc.). As described above in the system 100, it should
again be appreciated that the student identifier may be emitted
and/or transmitted from the tag 118, or retrieved from the tag 118
by the school (or otherwise retrieved by the school), by the
computing device 200, in various other suitable manners.
[0047] Upon detecting the student identifier for the student, when
the student enters the school, the school generates/compiles, at
306, an authorization message for the student (e.g., an
authorization request, etc.). In this embodiment, the authorization
message is compliant with the ISO 8583 standard for financial
transaction messages. As such, in compiling the authorization
message for the student, the school includes, among other things,
the student identifier for the student and an identifier for the
school in the authorization message (e.g., in one or more data
elements of the authorization message, etc.). The authorization
message may also include the social program code associated with
the attendance-reliant social program provided by the incentive
provider 110. In connection therewith, the social program code is
generally previously provided by the incentive provider 110 to the
school, so that the school can then include the code in the
authorization message, as appropriate. However, it should be
appreciated that the social program code may be obtained by the
school in other manners, and then included in the authorization
request (e.g., from the student when the student enters the school
(e.g., directly from the student, from the tag 118, etc.),
subsequently from the incentive provider 110 upon entry of the
student to the school, etc.).
[0048] Table 1 illustrates various different data elements (DE) of
the authorization message in which different information relating
to the attendance of the student at the school may be included. For
example, a time in/out associated with the student's access at the
school may be included in DE 12 (e.g., 8:15 AM, etc.) and a date
in/out associated with the student's access at the school may be
included in DE 13 (e.g., March 1, etc.) (i.e., the time/day the tag
118 was detected). In addition, the organizer type (i.e., a school
in this example) may be included in DE 18, a country in which the
school is located may be included in DE 19, and a "PAN" for the
school may be included in DE 20 (where, in this example, the "PAN"
is a sixteen-digit number that includes a BIN associated with the
social program code for the attendance-reliant social program
provided by the incentive provider 110 to the student (i.e.,
1234-56), the student identifier for the student (i.e., 654321-000,
extended to nine digits so that the resulting PAN can still be
sixteen digits), and a verification code or check-sum (i.e., 1), or
in this example 1234566543210001). With that said, it should be
appreciated that the data elements included in Table 1 are
illustrative only and should not be understood to limit the method
300, or other methods herein (or the system 100 or other systems
herein). It should also be appreciated that additional data
elements may be included/utilized in the authorization message as
needed, for example, to accommodate additional data having large
sizes and not capable of fitting within one data element, to
accommodate other data not illustrated in Table 1, etc.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Data Element (DE) Authorization Message
Content DE 12 Time In/Time out DE 13 Date In/Date out DE 18
Organizer Type (e.g., school, etc.) DE 19 Country of Organizer DE
20 PAN (e.g., comprising a 6 digit BIN associated with the social
program code for the incentive provider 110, a 9 digit personal
identifier for the student, and a 1 digit check/verification code)
DE 21 Optional DE 22 Individual PIN for authentication (e.g., for
authentication of the student, etc.) DE 42 Originator ID (e.g.,
school ID) DE 43 Organizer Name (e.g., school name) DE 47 Optional
DE 48 Additional Information/Performance Data (e.g., a grade report
for the student, etc.)
[0049] Next in the method 300, the school 102 transmits, at 308,
the authorization message to the payment network 106, via the
acquirer 104. At the payment network 106, the authorization message
is accessible to the attendance engine 120, which, in turn,
identifies, at 310, the authorization message as being an
attendance message. In particular, in this exemplary embodiment,
the authorization message includes a "PAN" that consists of the BIN
for the attendance-reliant social program provided by the incentive
provider 110, the student identifier for the student, and the check
digit (e.g., consistent with the Luhn algorithm as is known to one
skilled in the art, etc.). As described above, the BIN for the
attendance-reliant social program provided by the incentive
provider 110 is specific to the program and is known to the
attendance engine 120 as being associated with such program (e.g.,
via the attendance data structure 122 or otherwise, etc.). As such,
when included in the authorization message, the attendance engine
120 understands the message to be an attendance message and not a
traditional authorization message relating to a payment account
transaction.
[0050] When the authorization message is identified as an
attendance message, the attendance engine 120 further identifies,
at 312, the student and/or the school based on the authorization
message. In particular, as indicated above, the "PAN" in the
authorization message includes the student identifier for the
student, which is used by the attendance engine 120 to search in
the attendance data structure 122 to identify the student (and
his/her profile). Similarly, the school 102 is identified by the
attendance engine 120 by searching in the data structure 122 for
the school identifier and/or school name for the school (as also
included in the authorization message). Then, based on the
identified student and and/or identified school, the attendance
engine 120 compiles an attendance entry for the student and
appends, at 314, the attendance entry to an attendance profile, in
the data structure 122, associated with the student. As described
above, the attendance entry may include, for example, the date/time
of the entry at the school by the student, the school identifier,
the school name, a performance review for the student (e.g., a
grade report, etc.), etc.
[0051] At one or more intervals, or continuously, after the
attendance entry is appended to the attendance profile for the
student, the attendance engine 120, in this exemplary embodiment,
determines whether the attendance profile for the student satisfies
one or more attendance requirements implemented by the incentive
provider 110, for example. In so doing, the attendance engine 120
retrieves, at 316, the requirement(s) from the data structure 122,
based on the school identifier, school name, etc. for the school
and then determines, at 318, whether the attendance profile for the
student satisfies the requirement(s). The requirement(s) may be
general, or they may be associated with one or more particular
incentives provided by the incentive provider 110. For example, the
incentive provider 110 may provide a payment of $5.00 to the
student for each day of attendance by the student at the school in
excess of 150 days. As such, in this example, the attendance engine
120, at the 151-day period (and potentially each day thereafter),
determines whether the student has attended the school in excess of
150 days.
[0052] With continued reference to FIG. 3, when the attendance
engine 120 determines that the attendance requirement(s) for the
student are satisfied, at 318, the attendance engine 120 causes
funds to be transferred, at 320, to a payment account associated
with the student. In particular, for example, the attendance engine
120 may initiate a payment account transaction to the student's
payment account, via the incentive provider 110, where upon
approval of the transaction by the issuer 108 of the payment
account, the issuer 108 allocates the funds to the payment account.
Alternatively, as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 3, the
attendance engine 120 may transmit a report to the incentive
provider 110 indicating that the student's attendance satisfies the
attendance requirement(s) and, in turn, the incentive provider 110
may directly allocate, at 322, funds (e.g., transfer funds, etc.)
to the student's payment account.
[0053] In various implementations of the method 300, when the
attendance engine 120 determines that the attendance requirement(s)
for the student are satisfied, at 318, the attendance engine 120
may alternatively (or in addition to causing funds to be
transferred) transmit a report to one or more entities (e.g., the
incentive provider 110 as described above, the organizer 102, etc.)
indicating the student's attendance at the school. As indicated
above, such reports may be generated at a particular period (e.g.,
at the 151-day period when the attendance requirement(s) are
implicated at 150 days of attendance, etc.). Or, such reports may
be generated at one or more regular intervals (e.g., daily, weekly,
monthly, etc.). In turn, based on the report, the receiving entity
may take one or more actions to address the attendance indicated
therein (e.g., in the form of incentives, remedial actions,
disciplinary actions, etc.).
[0054] With continued reference to FIG. 3, when the attendance
engine 120 determines that the attendance requirement(s) for the
student are not satisfied, at 318, the attendance engine 120 causes
a report to be transmitted to one or more entities indicating the
student's attendance at the school, at 324, without causing any
fund and/or allocating any funds to the payment account associated
with the student. It should be appreciated that the attendance
engine 120 may further cause such a report indicating the student's
attendance at the school to be transmitted to one or more entities,
even when the attendance requirement(s) for the student are
satisfied.
[0055] Further, in various implementations of the method 300, in
connection with transmitting a report to one or more entities
indicating the student's attendance at the school, the attendance
engine 120 may also include performance data in the report. In
particular, for example, when the school generates the
authorization message for the student, when the student enters the
school (indicating attendance of the student at the school), the
school may also include grade data for the student in the
authorization message. This may be done at particular intervals,
such as when new grades are issued (e.g., at the end of a quarter,
semester, etc.), or this may be done each time an authorization
message is compiled. In any case, upon receipt of the authorization
message at the attendance engine 120, the attendance engine 120 may
retrieve the grade data from the message and include it in the
report. The report may then be used by a receiving entity to
measure performance of the student, of teachers associated with the
student, of the school, etc.
[0056] Again and as previously described, it should be appreciated
that the functions described herein, in some embodiments, may be
described in computer executable instructions stored on a computer
readable media, and executable by one or more processors. The
computer readable media is a non-transitory computer readable
storage medium. By way of example, and not limitation, such
computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or
other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic
storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or
store desired program code in the form of instructions or data
structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Combinations of
the above should also be included within the scope of
computer-readable media.
[0057] It should also be appreciated that one or more aspects of
the present disclosure transform a general-purpose computing device
into a special-purpose computing device when configured to perform
the functions, methods, and/or processes described herein.
[0058] As will be appreciated based on the foregoing specification,
the above-described embodiments of the disclosure may be
implemented using computer programming or engineering techniques
including computer software, firmware, hardware or any combination
or subset thereof, wherein the technical effect may be achieved by
performing at least one of the following operations: (a)
identifying an authorization message as an attendance message based
on a program code included in the authorization message, the
authorization message further including an organizer identifier
indicative of an organizer associated with a location of the
attendance; (b) identifying a person associated with the attendance
based on the authorization message; and (c) appending an attendance
entry to an attendance profile associated with the person, based on
the authorization message, whereby an incentive associated with the
attendance of the person at the organizer is able to be
allocated.
[0059] Exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure
will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are
skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as
examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a
thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It
will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details
need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in
many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit
the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments,
well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known
technologies are not described in detail.
[0060] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing
particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to be
limiting. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the"
may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises,"
"comprising," "including," and "having," are inclusive and
therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,
operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the
presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,
steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The
method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to
be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the
particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically
identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood
that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
[0061] When a feature is referred to as being "on," "engaged to,"
"connected to," "coupled to," "associated with," "included with,"
or "in communication with" another feature, it may be directly on,
engaged, connected, coupled, associated, included, or in
communication to or with the other feature, or intervening features
may be present. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and
all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
[0062] In addition, as used herein, the term product may include a
good and/or a service.
[0063] Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used
herein to describe various features, these features should not be
limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish
one feature from another. Terms such as "first," "second," and
other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or
order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first
feature discussed herein could be termed a second feature without
departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
[0064] None of the elements recited in the claims are intended to
be a means-plus-function element within the meaning of 35 U.S.C.
.sctn. 112(f) unless an element is expressly recited using the
phrase "means for," or in the case of a method claim using the
phrases "operation for" or "step for."
[0065] The foregoing description of exemplary embodiments has been
provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not
intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual
elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not
limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are
interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if
not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in
many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure
from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be
included within the scope of the disclosure.
* * * * *
References